Conservatives Demand Trump Fire Head of IRS

A closed-door, off-the-record meeting of conservatives at the White House this week ended with calls to fire Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen, The Daily Caller reports.

The Wednesday meeting, organized by Trump administration conservative liaison Paul Teller and attended by approximately two dozen leaders from groups like the Heritage Foundation and Judicial Watch, touched on a number of issues, particularly of the swamp-draining variety.

“The broad consensus among attendees was that Trump needs to clean out Obama-era bureaucrats if he is going to be successful in pushing through his agenda,” a source told The Daily Caller.

However, particular scorn was heaped on Koskinen. The commissioner has been a particular bete noire of conservatives ever since he took over during the investigation into the IRS targeting scandal, in which it was alleged that the department purposely targeted conservative and tea party groups’ tax exempt status.

While Koskinen was not in charge of the department during the scandal, he was hired in part to clean it up, the Washington Times reports. However, he quickly became embroiled in it when records likely pertinent to the case disappeared on his watch.

The situation was dire enough that Koskinen even testified before Congress in September of 2016 in what was seen as a possible prelude to impeachment.

“I accept that it is up to you to judge my overall record. But I believe that impeachment would be improper, it would create disincentives for many good people who serve, and it would slow the pace of reform and progress at the IRS,” Koskinen said.

If what’s happened since constitutes progress at the IRS, I would hate to see what regression entails. Conservatives don’t want to find out, either.

“It could be partly that for the checklist of the Trump administration, they don’t yet have a full Cabinet and this isn’t a priority. External pressure, from what I picked up, should continue,” said Jordan Sekulow, executive director for conservative legal group the American Center for Law and Justice, according to The Daily Signal.

“If we saw more pressure from Congress, I think Koskinen would be gone.”

Even Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, certainly no present-day Barry Goldwater in the conservatism department, said of Koskinen, “I think he’s been a disaster and I’d be shocked if we don’t have a new (IRS commissioner).”

Yes, that’s right — Mitch McConnell, one of the biggest RINOs you’ll ever be able to see without booking a safari, thinks Koskinen needs to be fired. When even Uncle Mitch thinks you have to go, it must be really bad.